The reunited EXODUS, VIO-LENCE, FORBIDDEN and SADUS are tentatively set to join forces in a combined touring package that is due to go out under the moniker Bay Area Invasion, and which is presently being put together by Walter Morgan's Deadly Embrace Productions (the people behind this month's Thrash Of The Titans benefit ...

According to early reports from national retail accounts, SLIPKNOT's Iowa opus will have shifted between 350,000 and 400,000 copies during its first week of release, virtually ensuring it the #1 slot on the Billboard Pop Album chart when the final numbers are released in the middle of next week. Meanwhile, Iowa's closest competitor, MARY ...

The UK's KILL II THIS have been dropped by Visible Noise Records and have parted ways with singer Matt Pollock. In an e-mail sent by Visible Noise MD Julie Weir to Steve Braund of Amplify This web 'zine, it was revealed that the budget required for the recording of a new album could not ...

Based on recent “off the record” statements made by drummer Michel Langevin (aka Away), the current incarnation of VOIVOD—which includes Langevin, guitarist Denis D'Amour (aka Piggy), and returning frontman Denis Belanger (aka Snake)—will take up to a year composing material for the group's upcoming studio album and will likely complete most of the initial ...

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian has posted the following update on the progress of the songwriting sessions for the group's upcoming, as-yet-untitled studio album—the band's first for Beyond/BMG Records—and the preparation for the recording of a live album, which is scheduled to take place in Chicago on October 3rd: “Work on the record has been ...

The revamped SKID ROW, featuring new vocalist Johnny Solinger (formerly of SOLINGER), have nearly completed work on their upcoming CD, tentatively titled Thick Is The Skin, which is due to be released through an as-yet-undetermined label later in the year. Apparently, several songs have yet to be mixed and other packaging-related issues have to ...

As exclusively reported here yesterday, HELLOWEEN have now officially confirmed the departures of lead guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch from the group's ranks. In a posting on the message board of HELLOWEEN's official web site last night, webmaster Tony offered the following statement on the matter: “Well…not much to tell you ...

SLIPKNOT have reportedly been confirmed to play this year's Halloween show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City for the second year in a row. At the present time, no support acts have yet been announced, but MUDVAYNE and TYPE O NEGATIVE are rumored to be taking part in the night's festivities. In ...